FIRST DRIVE: MINI COOPER CONVERTIBLES

Spice takes the 'Always Open' mode of Mini's new convertible for a spin on the road to Mount Fuji in Japan.

- Riaan Jacob George

Today is my Tokyo Drift moment—except that there’s no drifting. What there is a copious amount of high-speed handling, on the curlies between Tokyo and Hakone, a town famous among auto enthusiasts, for vantage point views of Mount Fuji. And today’s drive takes me 90 minutes outside Tokyo, to Hakone, for the first drive of the Mini Cooper Convertible S, replete with the roof down experience. Leaving Tokyo's overwhelming urban sprawl behind, I pull up on the side of the road, flip a button and, in just about 18 seconds, drop down the roof (the Union Jack motif folding perfectly on the retractable roof fabric is a beautiful design touch), and cutting through the gorgeous Japanese forests leading to Mount Fuji.